Heaving-to
is a sailing tactic that buys you
time: time to stop and rest; time to
wait for the fog to clear; time for
daylight to arrive so you can enter
a new port safely; time to
double-check your navigation; time
to make repairs. You can heave-to
and wait near another ship while you
transfer people or supplies. You can
heave-to in rough sea conditions to
make it easier to take an important
sight or bearing. Finally, when
everything goes wrong and you are
caught 100 miles off a lee shore and
breaking waves prevent you from
beating off, you must heave-to to
hold on to your searoom. All
sailors, even those who advocate
running before a storm, should know
how to heave-to and be prepared to
do so.

To me, hove-to
means your boat is no longer sailing
forward. It is stopped and making
leeway with its bow about fifty
degrees from the wind. The most
erroneous statement I have read
about heaving-to is, "Simply back
the staysail and set a reefed main."
This method does work on some boats
in some conditions. But in strong
winds with heavy seas, the bow of
most boats is forced off by the
backed staysail, and the boat
usually ends up slowly sailing along
the trough of the waves. If the boat
is making headway, in my opinion,
you are not hove-to, you are
sailing!

Since all sailplans have different
fore-and-aft balance and all hulls
have a different center of lateral
resistance, you must experiment with
your boat to find out how to hold
its bow into the wind. Practicing in
moderate to heavy winds and seas
will give you an educated guess
about what to expect in stronger
storm conditions. Lin and I have
lain hove-to quite happily in our
24-foot cutter, Seraffyn, with
reefed mainsail only. Two of the
ketches we delivered lay hove-to in
Force 10 winds (48-55 knots) with
just their mizzens sheeted in flat.
Some fin-keel-and-skeg boats
heave-to with a storm jib on the
backstay; others are happy with a
storm trysail set; still others need
a sea anchor or drogue to hold their
bow up near the wind. Experimenting
teaches you more about your hull and
sail balance and will make your
voyaging safer, more comfortable,
and therefore more enjoyable.

Heaving-to in
light to medium winds (up to 25
knots) is easily done by trimming
your rudder and sails so your boat
is headed into the wind and sea as
though you were close hauled.
Seraffyn heaves-to with a full
mainsail and the helm tied to
leeward about ten or fifteen
degrees. In the gusts, the mainsail
luffs a bit but still does not have
enough power to tack the boat
through the wind. This is the stall
point you want to achieve to
heave-to correctly. In light to
medium winds it is not vital to have
the bow of the boat headed close to
the wind, but you motion through the
water should be stopped. Preventing
this forward motion becomes very
important when you are hove-to in
breaking seas, however. A boat with
a long keel and moderately cutaway
forefoot would probably be able to
heave-to the same way. Tie the
tiller so the boat will stall before
it tacks. Some fin-keel-and-skeg
sloops are so lively that they will
tack in the lightest winds if you
keep the full mainsail up alone. To
combat this tendency, try reefing
the main and adjusting the helm more
amidships or backing a staysail or
small jib.

No matter what type of boat you are
trying to heave-to, be sure to
adjust your tiller at least a bit to
leeward. If the tiller is tied to
weather at all, an increase in wind
strength could bear the boat off and
cause her to gybe accidentally. Tie
your tiller with heavy shockcord so
the cord absorbs some of the stress
that would otherwise be exerted on
the rudder assembly. Furthermore,
for long-term cruising safety, have
rudder stops.

Heaving-to in heavy winds (gale to
storm force) when the seas start to
build differs from heaving-to in
moderate winds; in these conditions
you want to use the wake or slick of
your boat to confuse the breaking
seas. The key to heaving-to in these
conditions is to get your boat to
drift dead downwind. In this way you
stay directly behind your amazingly
protective slick. We lay hove-to in
Seraffyn 400 miles east of England
for thirty hours in a full force 10
storm (50-55 knots of wind).
Storm-force winds were reported in
all European sea areas from Iceland
to northern Spain. By the second day
the waves had built to long
over-hanging crests, which were
breaking dangerously on either side
of our slick. Yet in the afternoon
our foredeck was only damp from
spray and the side decks had
actually dried off in the September
sun. No green seas had broken
against our hull. Occasionally
broken-down white foam would skid
across the slick to slap
ineffectively against the bow. We'd
lost only twenty miles of the
weathering we'd worked for two weeks
to gain. I think this particular
incident convinced Lin and me that
as long as we had searoom and we
chose our sailing seasons carefully,
we could weather almost any storm.
When things did get rough, we could
simply heave-to and feel as though
we'd pulled over to the side of the
road and parked.

Figure 1 shows
how generally to hold a boat hove-to
in those storm-generated seas. Your
boat may require different sail or
helm adjustments from the four
illustrated. The most important
factor is to make sure your boat is
stopped and drifting down-wind
behind its slick. If you find you
are forereaching, try tying the
tiller more to leeward. The force of
the wave action on the angled rudder
pushes the stern of your boat down
and the bow up. That is why tying
the tiller to leeward helps stop the
forward motion of your boat. In the
same wind and sea conditions, a
fin-keel-and-skeg sloop might need a
backstaysail. If this doesn't work,
try a drogue or parachute sea anchor
in conjunction with a backstaysail
to keep your boat behind its slick.

Once we have any boat we are on
properly hove-to, we usually hit the
bunk. If we are in a fog or
concerned about ships we leave a
strobe light flashing at the
masthead. One of us goes on deck
every hour to check for chafe on any
storm gear and the set of the riding
sail. But most important, we watch
to see if the boat is forereaching.
If your boat moves forward from
behind your slick, a large sea could
break onto your bow. To be sure we
are not forereaching I drop a couple
of paper towels into our slick. If
the boat is staying directly to
leeward of the slick, the paper
towels will drift dead up wind. If
the towels end up farther and
farther aft of the boat, it means
the boat is sailing out of its
protection. You can see these white
pieces of paper quite easily at
night with a flashlight.

If your boat is determined to
forereach, you should set a sea
anchor of some sort. Although there
are a variety of sea anchors
available, we prefer a parachute
anchor. This large diameter drogue
will definitely stop any forward
motion so you drift directly behind
your protective slick.

We used a
para-anchor
with a triple-reefed mainsail on
Seraffyn in the Gulf of Papagayo off
Mexico and in the North Pacific
during storms with winds
reported to range from strong gale
force to hurricane force (between 40
and 70 knots). Our nine-foot
diameter, coarsely woven nylon
para-anchor is much stronger and
easier to stow than the smaller
diameter, traditional, iron-hooped,
canvas-coned sea anchors described
in older cruising books. The nylon
para-anchor used with a nylon rode
is more elastic than its canvas and
manila counterpart, and the nylon
rode absorbs the shock of the boat
surging against the sea anchor. This
gear helps a vessel lie hove-to
safely fifty degrees off the wind
even after the winds increase beyond
storm force. Our para-anchor
is a surplus Navy cargo chute. They
are used extensively for this
purpose by the fishing fleet around
southern California and Mexico. Oursupply source is Gerrard
Fiorentino Marine Sales, 311 22nd
Street, San Pedro, CA, which has
twenty-four-hour service.
The para-anchor's
come in nine-, sixteen-,
twenty-four-, and twenty-eight-foot
diameters.

The first time we hove-to with a
para-anchor and triple-reefed
mainsail, Seraffyn lay almost
head-to-wind in the manner described
in the book, The Venturesome
Voyage of Captain Voss. We were
continually woken up when the
mainsail luffed violently as the
para-anchor jerked us head to wind.
The action was hard on the sail and
on our nerves.

We later figured out how to lie in a
close-hauled position even with the
para-anchor set. Our keel then
provided the slick to break down the
seas so they would have less force
on our hull, ruder, and the
para-anchor gear. We rigged an
adjustable fairlead as shown in
Figure 2, using gear we already had
on board. This fairlead let us
control the direction of the
para-anchor strains in relation to
the direction of the wind. Now we
could lie fifty degrees off the
wind. If any wave did sneak into our
slick area, its force would first be
exerted on the boat's bow. The bow
would fall off to leeward,
stretching and tugging on the nylon
rode and para-anchor. They would
absorb most of the shock, so the
rudder received little strain.

This position also has another
advantage. You are now presenting
the corners of your cabins and
hatches to the force of the sea, and
these corners are much stronger than
the flat side or front of your
cabin. Some people have hove-to
stern to the wind and sea. This
position is less safe because your
relatively weak cockpit, sliding
hatch, and companionway doors or
dropboards are then vulnerable to a
breaking sea.

Once you are
lying to the para-anchor, you must
adjust the length of the rode so the
boat and anchor crest their
individual waves at the same time.
If the boat crests one wave while
the para-anchor is in the trough of
another, the differences in the wave
action will cause an uncomfortable,
gear straining jerk.

One of the most important uses of a
para-anchor is to cut your rate of
drift. A boat running toward a lee
shore, even if it is trailing warps,
loses valuable searoom at the rate
of 3 knots or more. A boat lying
hove-to drifts to leeward about one
nautical mile in an hour, possibly
less.

The first time I set our
para-anchor, I used the trip line
and attached a long line from it all
the way back to the boat. The
para-anchor twisted on its
connecting swivel and wound up the
trip line and anchor like spaghetti.
After this experience, we eliminated
the whole trip line. Although
retrieving the sea anchor took
longer without the trip line, it was
still not too difficult. When it was
safe to get underway again, we used
our anchor windlass to grind in the
rode. As the boat and para-anchor
lay in the trough of their waves, it
was quite easy to winch in six or
eight feet of line. As the boat
reached the crest of the wave, the
line tension increased, so we'd hold
on and wait for the next trough.
When the para-anchor was next to the
bow, we hooked it with a boathook
and pulled it on board.

Setting the para-anchor was even
easier than retrieving it. We laid
it out on the foredeck to make sure
none o fits lines were tangled,
shackled the second anchor bower (a
300-foot-long, 5/8-inch,
three-strand nylon line) to the
3/8-inch galvanized swivel and then
fed the para-anchor, cover first,
slowly over the bow. I eased out the
line as the boat drifted slowly
downwind. As soon as the rode was
snubbed, the para-anchor filled and
started working. It did not need any
weights and it always opened as soon
as the strains came on it.

A question we are frequently asked
is: How do you know when it is time
to stop and heave-to? When we are
beating, the decision is usually
made for us. Waves start breaking
against the weather bow and progress
becomes extremely uncomfortable.
Most cruising folks stop going to
windward about this same time, but
racers frequently press on.

To heave-to
from a beating position, simply drop
your headsail and adjust the sails
and helm to hold your boat in the
close-hauled position while drifting
dead downwind. Once the boat is
lying comfortably, I like to set up
the main topping lift to take some
of the strain off the leech of the
reefed sail.

If we are beam-reaching, we
heave-to before the seas break hard
against the hull. We often heave-to
earlier on a beam reach than we do
on a beat because the flat side of
our cabin, the portlights, and the
dinghy, which is stored on the cabin
top, are particularly vulnerable to
seas breaking on the beam. To
heave-to from a beam reach, drop
your headsail and sheet in your
main, mizzen, or trysail as you
round up on the back side of a wave.
Try to choose a time when you will
not hit the next breaking wave
before the boat is stopped.

Choosing when it is time to heave-to
is more difficult when you are
running. We usually don't like to
heave-to then because we are making
great time towards our goal. Running
with the wind and seas also gives us
a false sense of security. The decks
are quite often dry, the waves are
not slamming against the hull, and
the motion is usually more
comfortable. So our rule is,
heave-to before the seas start to
crest. It is often hard to judge,
but you'll realize it's time to
heave-to when a sea breaks right
under your stern and the boat is
given an uneasy push. In other
words, the power of the seas is
starting to control the boat's
normal progress through the water.
Do not confuse this situation with
ordinary surfing or acceleration
down the face of a wave. If the boat
is steering well, surfing is great
fun. But as the seas get larger and
more overhanging, your chances of
broaching are increased. Remember,
the decision about when it is time
to heave-to depends completely on
the shape of the waves, not the
speed of the wind. Theoretically,
you could run under bare poles in
winds of 100 knots if the sea were
flat. On the other hand, in a rough
situation such as that often found
in the relatively shallow waters of
the English Channel where wind
opposes tide and creates steep,
breaking seas, running in Force 7
winds (28-33 knots) could be
dangerous. So the classic rule is,
heave-to as soon as you think about
it. A falling barometer, wind
clouds, and tired crew will confirm
your decision to heave-to early.

When you do decide to stop running,
drop your headsail, sheet in your
reefed mainsail, mizzen, or trysail
and round quite quickly into the
wind. You'll probably take a good
bit of spray on board as you round
through the beam-reaching position.
The boat will heel sharply, but
there is no danger if you decide to
heave-to before breaking waves make
the boat feel uneasy.

Once you are
hove-to and have the boat settled
down, study the size and power of
the breaking waves. When you are
lying hove-to, it is a real
temptation to start sailing before
it is safe. You seem too
comfortable, thanks to the calming
affect of your slick and the relaxed
feel of your boat now that it is no
longer thrusting through the water.
So you are sometimes lulled into a
false sense of security. Be certain
that the waves have decreased in
size and power before you start
sailing again.

It is my firm belief that
heaving-to has become an unused art
because most modern yacht designs
are for racer/cruiser-type hulls,
which are not usually as stable as
older, long keeled boats. Added to
this is the fact that many of those
older boats were gaff-rigged. Their
sailplans did not move foreward when
they were reefed like sailplans do
on modern marconi rigs. This sail
area well aft helped hold their bow
up into the wind, and the long keels
held them steady so they hove-to
quietly and easily. There was no
fussing with backstaysails, drogues,
or sea anchors; they just dropped
the jib and sheeted in the mainsail
and relaxed. Also, the older
generation of sailors worked all
year round. Fishing boats hove-to
while the pulled their nets, pilot
cutters hove-to and waited for
ships, square-riggers hove-to to
wait for the fog to clear before
they closed the land. Weather was no
deterrent. Those working sailors had
to be out there. Today's yachtsmen
who are sailing for pleasure can
organize their races or holiday
cruises to coincide with most
favorable weather and wind
conditions. So can those yachtsmen
who sail the world west about with
the prevailing winds. These people
can choose to sail.

But even with the best of planning,
there will be times when you need to
know how to heave-to. Although boats
have changed, sailors have not. They
still get tired and need rest.
Modern boats can be made to
heave-to, but since they don't
balance the same as their working
ancestors, try experimenting with
backstaysails, sheeted-in mizzens,
trysails, and para-anchors so you
can take advantage of the sailors
safety valve.

“In
a storm at sea, luck is highly biased
toward the sailor who has a plan.”
So write Lin andLarry Pardey in
this, the third edition of their
highly regarded Storm Tactics Handbook.
Asin the first two editions of this
book, they describe their concerns
about the tendencyof modern sailors
to discard the classic methods used
to bring sailing vessels of all
sizes—from vast clipper ships totiny
yachts—through amazingly strongwinds
and heavy sea